Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 66

He’s using the Lesser Manipulation spell again and again, even with all that heavy luggage and floating boxes! Any normal wizard would use a stronger spell for this.

Lesser Manipulation is not meant for this! It’s for lifting small things like pens or erasers, maybe marbles if you are feeling brave. Using it like *that*… It was impressive, but also a bit much.

Does he really need to go that far with a 1st circle spell??

“Wait, that’s a spell to make his body stronger, right? Who taught him that?” Professor Garcia had been watching the floating boxes, amazed by the Lesser Manipulation spell. Then, he suddenly noticed the magical glow around Ethan.

A clear magical glow surrounded Ethan, helping him move.

There was only one type of magic that looked like this: physical enhancement magic.

Many wizards use this spell because it works well. But it can cause problems later, because it pushes magic into your body and keeps it there.

Brave adventurers and fighters might be strong enough to use it. But most students here have only ever lifted a pen at their desks.

They are too weak for this spell, and they don’t need to learn it yet…

Where did he learn it?

Who knows?

The Skull Headmaster showed no expression at all, pretending he didn’t know anything. He was very good at hiding his feelings.

“Did he find it in the library and learn it himself? I should have told him not to do that…”

The Skull Headmaster thought, “Don’t worry so much, Professor Garcia. If you keep stopping him from doing things, the wizard will become weak.”

‘Is this guy behind it?’ Professor Garcia suddenly thought the Skull Headmaster might be responsible.

He didn’t have a real reason, but he just felt it!

The Agile Steps of Gonadaltez, which Ethan had to learn, was a very strange spell.

Usually, spells that make you stronger only focus on one thing.

Strength spells make you stronger.

Agility spells make you faster.

This is especially true for simple, lower level spells. If you try to do too much with a simple spell, it can become a weird magic that no one can control.

But The Agile Steps of Gonadaltez was exactly this strange type of magic.

It was a weird, simple spell that made you stronger, faster, gave you more stamina, and improved your reflexes!

So, learning it was going to be very hard.

If it was just a strength spell, you could picture a very strong man like Hercules. If it was just for speed, you could picture a fast bird.

But trying to picture something that included all four things was not easy.

-I think I know why ‘Gonadaltez’ is in the spell’s name,

Ethan complained, looking angrily at the black book.

“Some spells are named after the wizard who made them.

It’s like an honor for the wizard, and it also tells you what kind of spell it is.

And the name ‘Gonadaltez’ definitely tells you something.

This magic is really badly designed! At least the spell name should make sense, right? Usually, a spell like this should only be about speed.”

He tried and failed.

Tried and failed.

Again and again.

After many tries, Ethan started to understand what to do.

Ethan didn’t fully know it, but his ability to think in different ways and change his ideas was actually more special than his strong magic.

Because of this talent, Ethan decided to picture the Skull Headmaster when he was younger.

Of course, Ethan had no idea what the Headmaster looked like young.

But Ethan imagined him in his best days.

He pictured bright, crazy eyes, a mean and sharp look because he must have been angry easily.

Since he liked fighting enough to make this spell, he must have been fit and strong… He added dark clothes and a magic staff.

He created a picture of an evil wizard who looked like he could be a villain in any story.

‘I imagined it, and he really does look strong.’

A wizard who is strong, fast, can keep going for a long time, and has quick reactions.

And surprisingly, this picture worked! The magic that had not been working at all started to work correctly.

-Feet, move the earth!

He kept saying the spell words again and again.

After trying again and again, the magic finally worked! Ethan felt the magic’s power become part of his body, like a pattern drawn on his skin, helping him.

Strength and speed, and also stamina to breathe and quick reactions.

*Flutter!*

The black book fluttered, like it was happy Ethan had done it.

Ethan was happy with what he had achieved after so much hard work. But then he stopped.

A thought came to his mind.

‘Wait. Doesn’t physical enhancement magic have bad effects later? If this magic does so many things…’

Before he could finish his question, the black book kicked Ethan out of the magic training space.

Of course, even though he was worried, he had to use it. Ethan couldn’t choose other ways right now.

He had too much luggage.

Ethan used The Agile Steps of Gonadaltez. At the same time, he used magic like Professor Ingardel taught him, trying to move it around his body.

…No, to be exact, he didn’t really move it around his body. He just let it out.

He wasn’t good enough to control it yet.

But even just letting it out was enough to make him stronger and protect his body.

Then, he used the Lesser Manipulation spell one after another.

If Professor Ingardel saw this, he would say, ‘No, it’s too much to try to control your magic while casting spells like that!’

And the biggest problem was that it used up a lot of magic.

Normally, he should have fallen down after walking just a few steps… ‘It’s boring because he has too much magic,’ the Skull Headmaster thought to himself, annoyed.

It looked like he used The Agile Steps of Gonadaltez, but it wasn’t fun because he was doing too well.

Usually, when someone learns that spell, they use it and think, ‘It’s just a simple spell, it shouldn’t use much magic, right?’ And then they fall down in shock!

That’s how they show respect to the teacher who made the spell.

In fact, all of the Skull Headmaster’s other students had fallen down like that, and it made the Skull Headmaster happy.

It was a simple spell, but it was also like a trick! It was much harder, stronger, and used much more magic than a normal simple spell!

…But Ethan just ignored the bad effects.

‘Welcome back…’

The Skull Headmaster said in an annoyed voice.

This made Ethan happy, because it meant he had passed all the tests.

“Thank you for the trip. I will remember your kindness, Headmaster.”

“Student Ethan, you don’t need to be so polite.”

Professor Garcia was a little surprised.

Ethan was allowed to go out because he did very well, not because the Headmaster was nice.

*Ahem.* The Skull Headmaster cleared his throat.

“Professor Garcia, isn’t that a nice way to talk these days?”

Professor Garcia ignored what the Skull Headmaster said.

“Student Ethan, when you go inside, drink as many potions as you can to help you get better and rest a lot. It’s best to sleep for a long time.”

“……”

Ethan was ready for something bad to happen, but he was still a little scared when Professor Garcia said that.

‘Should I not have used magic? Was the magic itself the Headmaster’s last trick?’

“I understand,” Ethan said.

He bowed his head and walked inside through the open gate.

The Skull Headmaster watched Ethan walking away, a pleased look on his face. Then, he turned to Professor Garcia and said, “Wait. How did he get all that money?” Professor Garcia was shocked.

“…!”

Ethan had done everything he could before falling asleep.

He put his luggage in order, told his friends what he needed, asked for their help, and drank potions…

“?”

When Ethan woke up, he had slept well until noon.

He was confused.

His body… ‘It feels too good?’

It felt too good.

It’s normal to worry when you should feel pain but you don’t. Feeling worried, Ethan carefully left his room.

“Ethan!”

Many students from Blue Dragon Tower were waiting for Ethan in the lounge. They looked worried and scared.

“Ethan!! You’re awake!”

“We were so worried!”

Some even had tears in their eyes. Ethan was even more confused.

‘What’s happening?’ he thought.

‘Did they bring a lot of food from outside and now they are trying to see who can be the most dramatic?’

“I did work hard, but it wasn’t *that* bad, was it?”

“Oh? Really? Guinan said you might *die*…”

“……”

Ethan didn’t say anything. He just sat heavily in a chair in the lounge.

Ethan’s luggage was piled up in a corner of the lounge. There were so many big things that they couldn’t all fit in his room, so they were stacked there.

Looking at it again… ‘I really brought all this like a crazy person.’

There were so many supplies that it made him feel proud, but also a bit crazy.

‘How did I carry all this by myself?’

“I looked after your horse while you were sleeping,” Yoner said.

“Thanks, Yoner. …Wait. That horse is in a bad mood sometimes, right? Was it okay?”

“Huh?”

Yoner tilted his head, confused.

“It was fine? It stood still while I gave it food and brushed it.”

“……”

Ethan was angry.

‘That horse…!’ he thought.

The horse that always acted up when Ethan took care of it was calm for someone else? Maybe it was because Ethan had been so mean to it that it was now grateful and behaved for Yoner… ‘Just wait, horse.’

“Here, some cocoa.”

Yoner gave Ethan a cup of warm cocoa. His body felt good, but he was still a little tired, so the sweet cocoa tasted amazing.

Ethan reached into his pockets. Yoner looked confused.

“Looking for something?”

“Silver coins,” Ethan said.

“…Just drink it, I gave it to you,” Yoner said, a little embarrassed.

Ethan looked at Yoner, impressed. Yoner just looked at him with surprise and confusion.

As he started to think more clearly, Ethan sighed.

“A new week has started…”

Everyone in the lounge nodded, looking sad.

The pride and confidence they had at the start of the second week was gone. ‘What bad things will happen to us this week?’ they all thought.

“Did everyone finish their homework?” Ethan asked.

“I did,” one student said.

“…If you can even call it homework.”

“I finished it,” said another.

“…It’s just trash.”

Ethan felt a little bad seeing everyone avoid looking at him. ‘Did I ask a stupid question?’ he thought.

“I also finished Professor Ure-gulm’s homework, so the only thing left is the White Tiger Tower flag.”

“……”

The faces of the Blue Dragon Tower students became serious when they heard about the White Tiger Tower flag.

It was the Skull Headmaster’s homework for Basic Magic Character Education. To be honest, it was still strange why this was supposed to teach them about character, but homework was homework.

“Has anyone tried to get it?” Ethan asked.

“Nothing works,” someone said.

“Damn it! I tried to trick one of the White Tiger Tower guys with candy, but it didn’t work. I was so close!”

“……”

The other friends weren’t just giving up and waiting for Ethan to do everything.

Everyone had been trying different things and thinking hard about it.

They tried sneaking in (but everyone got kicked out), trying to bribe them (but other White Tiger Tower students stopped them), making a fake flag, and other things.

But nothing worked.

Guinan came into the lounge late and said, “Why don’t we just work with the White Tiger Tower guys and trade flags?”

“What a stupid idea!” someone shouted.

“Have you forgotten how badly the White Tiger Tower guys attacked Ethan?!”

“?”

Ethan stopped and listened. ‘It didn’t seem *that* bad,’ he thought…

“Everyone, calm down,” Ethan said.

“I have a plan.”

“!”

The noisy lounge became quiet as soon as Ethan spoke. Guinan said, like he already knew, “You mean trading flags, right? There’s no other way, is there?”

“No,” Ethan said.

“We’re going to sneak in at night and steal it.”

“…That’s Ethan for you!”

Everyone in the Blue Dragon Tower lounge cheered loudly when they heard Ethan’s plan.